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Matt Kemp. Roy Halladay. Dustin Pedroia. And the list goes on – the disabled list that is. Maybe it’s just because I own them, but it seems like more star fantasy baseball players have spent time on the DL than in recent years.

But winning owners don’t sit on their hands or let a guy like Ryan Howard (who may not even play this year) occupy a valuable roster spot. Winning owners find suitable replacements, and, if necessary, drop players like Howard for guys like:

Whether it’s benching a Top 30 pitcher with a tough matchup or picking up a guy off the Waiver Wire with a juicy start, playing the matchups is a skill that takes some research and the intestinal fortitude to do what the trends and statistics say instead of what your gut says.

With that in mind, here are five SPs to avoid in the upcoming week and five to plug in or grab off of Waivers.

Is Albert Pujols in your lineup because of his name or his performance?

Oftentimes, fantasy baseball owners get a little caught up in the name game – allowing players to occupy their rosters based on name recognition instead of performance while better players, although not as popular, are outperforming them.

It’s important to balance the knowledge of a player’s past performance with an objective look at how they are performing in the moment.

With that in mind, here are 20 stats: 10 for well-known players and 10 for under-the-radar types.

We’ve all been there. Good times, good friends, but for whatever reason it all has to come to an end. Maybe the booze ran out. Maybe the cops show up. Maybe an ex shows up. However it happens, it signifies the end of what was perceived by all to be a good thing.

That is what I’m about to do – kill the buzz on fantasy baseball players who are performing at such a high level that they can’t maintain and should fall back to Earth sometime within the next few weeks.

If you feel like riding the hot streak, fine. If you feel like trading the player away, fine. I don’t care what you do with them, but here are some players with a buzz that is soon to flat-line. (more…)

In the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’ Harry and Lloyd are driving down the road singing “Mockingbird” about to get whacked by a hitman who is riding with them when they see a Hispanic family on the side of the road. “Pick ‘em up,” says Lloyd.

The hitman holsters the gun he was about to use on them and Harry and Lloyd are safe for the time-being.

Fantasy baseball can be a lot like that. Your team’s early performance could be about to put you in a hole early in the season, but a few well-timed pickups could either turn everything around for you or at least keep you in the game until your slow-starters come around.

The following are players owned in less than 50 percent of most leagues who could have an immediate positive impact on your team. (more…)